The invention relates to an optical plug connector for optical waveguides having a plug housing, the plug housing having an insertion side for optical waveguides and a plug side, and ends of the optical waveguides provided with fiber end sleeves pointing towards the plug side.
Optical plug connectors are required in communications technology for the mechanical and optical connection of optical waveguides for the transmission of analog and/or digital signals at high data transmission speeds in a manner insusceptible to faults.
It is known to connect optical waveguides to be laid with some freedom and having a connector and a counter-connector or a complex combination of connector/coupling/connector to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,995 discloses an optical waveguide plug connection, and describes resiliently mounted optical waveguides having a closure cap and arranged in a manner latchable into a coupling.
The object of this invention is to construct an optical coupling of the type mentioned at the outset such that optical waveguide connections laid with some freedom and having small mechanical dimensions have optimum coupling properties even in harsh environmental conditions and can be plugged in just as simply as electrical plug connectors.
This object is achieved in that the optical waveguides are held in the region of the insertion side by means of tension relief elements, in that the optical waveguides are laid with their fiber end sleeves in channels made in the plug housing, in that the fiber end sleeves are arranged next to one another, offset in the direction of plugging in, in that at least one of the fiber end sleeves is provided with a pressure spring, the fiber end sleeve being held axially resiliently, in that at least that channel in which the optical waveguide whereof the fiber end sleeve is provided with the pressure spring is laid has a widened portion, and in that the front end of the fiber end sleeve lying recessed in the direction of plugging in penetrates into a guide bore and is held therein.
The advantages achieved by the invention consist in particular in the fact that by constructing the optical plug connector as a dual-gender plug connector in which the connector and the counter-connector are of identical construction, simple handling, low-cost production and simplified logistics are made possible.
By using fiber end sleeves, known accordingly from DE 297 09 602 U1, for optical waveguide polymer fibers which are suitable for use in optical plug connectors, the fiber end sleeve being provided with a pressure spring, optimum optical coupling which ensures minimal coupling loss during signal transmission is possible. The free spring travel of the optical waveguides required for the contact pressure of the fiber end sleeves is ensured by appropriately constructed channels in the housing interior of the plug connector. With this arrangement, the optical waveguides follow any longitudinal displacement by the pressure spring, with an appropriate change in their curvature or their position in the widened channel.